Traction chain and coupling



1953 c. J. MANNEY ETAL 2,663,347

TRACTION CHAIN AND COUPLING Filed Oct. 26, 1949 DIRECT/0N 0F TRAVZLmama/r5 Char/e5 J. Nan/ray 'W/W/U/n H. Deva/75mm ATTORNEYS Patented Dec.22, 195 3 a TRACTION CHAIN AND "COUPLING Kenmore; his" Wiiiianijeflvilliairnsvillej N Y5, a'sj'sjgnors to 'MjcKinnon' Chain Corporation,Tona mam; (o1. 152 239)" 'ea lx Pre v nq nerpb @9 21 t an improved 1;

Q at, tire of Y the traction pfovides' improved traction tion c ainelement and "coupling arrangement thereo Fig. 2 is afrag'iflenta ingdiagrammatically the novel-chain coupling arrangemenfln oneposition ofadjiistmen d Fig. 3' is'c a fragmentary plan v'iew sini v Fi'gz 2 butshowingtheflchaiit c'oupling ariafi'g'-' ment in anoth'er. position 'offadjustinent The invention contemplates fat-tractio ofthe type includingavpair of sidefihains which are? adapted-to lie a1ongside*=opposite sidewalls' of a vehicle tire,- a nd cw it hsuitable l atch devices at theopposite efids 't'he ed to bemanually ope'rated for coupl ain in pperative position upon -the vehicle wheel. The" side chains areinterconnected by cross chain elements which extend at suitableintervals around the periphery of the tire, from one side chain to theother, thus traversing the tread portion of the vehicle tire. Thesecross chain elements are designed to be snugly taut against the tiretread when the device is mounted upon the wheel.

The traction chain elements of the device of the invention compriseseparate chain elements which extend obliquely transversely of the tiretread at intervals therearound; said traction chain elements beingspecially designed so as to be slack relative to the tire tread when thedevice c tQZ'er i id a e eihe re i t on t e eavaet set V termi alflteuon .21. 1 iii bi iii d ii iififi iw I TE S, e?" i W hai e m n s epermiied w fla i lei tiye to the tire'tread whereas the cro sschain ele-vmerits are snuglyl'. th-ereag'ainst This w pe mi s th ee i' was m n slaprelative to the tire tread when the mounting Wheel isre'volving'gwherehydirt'and mud or;

ice accumulation pick d pvwithint he li'nks of" tlie't'ractionoh rifleIfare beingicqntin uously dislodged' aiidfifiaken loose therefrom; Thisprevents clogging of the traction 'chainelenients *infsuqn'm uljdotherwiseT sub-v;

stantiau ieeueeth t at e effectiveness ofthe' devic'el lso), the tiprise lengths. of] I Y relatively mi'ge 'ze asfclear-ll shown the,drawing; compar' I links of th'enc'r cha whichtfeature aids lin'.the'dislod'geme of dir' a'd ther accumulations' fr'omisaid'tract 11 'che ements; v Mo'1e"specifically,TEig. l'il s'trate's' an appl icas} tionof their; en'ti oppositely pairedside ingfdetachable fastener devices jl[4-H atone;

chain elements comterrriinallthereof 'and ftautfcross" chain elements 1242 extending herebet 'eenlat s'pacedlinterfl d. at their con e'n linkpoiftion's is: mended inn"configur on w t ig' the llustrat "2:13amelementsi i, c

areilabout to be tionlii'lk e t w t amr, e the tractio explainedhereinabove. Thus, the terminal traction chain elements [4-44 arepermanently connected to the center portion of one of the terminal crosschains I2, and then at the leg end portions thereof by means of hooksili! to the side chain devices Iii-l0 or to outside link portions of thenext cross chain element I2 as may be preferred. However, as shown inFig. 1, it is a particular feature of the invention that the pairedterminal traction link elements are provided to terminate in hook linksI 'l which are adapted to be hooked into any one of the cross chain orside chain links so that when the chain ich m y be ormed toflthfe'relatively sman size j o attire chain comprisin I I elements [0-1.0haw-.

mm ntg. between ad n v amass lly between dja'cent cross'chains; Thesetractiongchafmf the drawing, but; arev 3 device is mounted upon a wheeltire and the fasteners I l-ll are pulled taut into coupled condition,the terminal traction chain elements bridging the space between the twoterminal cross chain elements may then be hooked into any convenientlyreached side chain links.

Thus, this arrangement makes allowances for adjustments in the fit ofthe chain device to vehicle tires in various conditions of wear; and inany case therefore the side and cross chain link elements may be drawninto tautly fitting relation upon the tire and the traction chainelements may be arranged to be properly slack so as to provide theimproved traction and self-cleaning effects referred to hereinabove.

Figs. 2-3 illustrate a slight modification of the invention wherein theterminal traction chain elements 14- are in each case fastened at oneend by means of a link to one of the center links of one of the terminalcross chain elements and at their other ends by means of the hookdevices l'I-ll to any conveniently available side or cross chain link,thus bridging the connectors |l-ll to provide tractive effectivenessentirely around the tire while disposing the slack traction chainelements to cross the diagonally disposed cleat formations of tractorwheel tires to provide the combination improved traction andself-cleaning characteristics referred to hereinabove.

As stated before, it is a particular feature of the invention that oneof the terminal cross chain elements of the device is provided with apair of traction chain elements extending in divergent relation from thecenter thereof; said traction chain elements being fitted with hook-ondevices at their free ends whereby they may be hooked onto the otherterminal cross chain or on the side chains so as to bridge the gapbetween the two terminal cross chains with traction chain devices thatare slack relative to the tire tread while the side chains and crosschains are in taut condition. Thus, as shown in Fig. 2, if when the sidechain fasteners ll-ll are engaged the distance between the terminalcross chains is relatively great, the hooks l'|-l| will be engaged inappropriately higher links of the side chains so as to permit'thetraction chains l 4l4 to bridge the position of the fasteners whilestill being in slack condition. However, if as shown in Fig. 3, thedevice is applied to a slightly smaller tire the side chains will bemore closely coupled so as to bring the terminal cross chains closertogether than in Fig. 2. In such case the traction chain hooks ll--l'!will be engaged in relatively lower side chain links; but in all casesthe bridging traction chain elements will be in slack condition asexplained hereinabove. It is apparent that the terminal traction chainelements l4, 14, being those which extend between the cross chains atthe end of the side chains,

act to bridge the side chain fasteners H, II and are thus bridging chainelements or bridge chains as distinguished from the traction chainelements identified at l3, l3.

Whereas only two forms of the invention have been shown and described indetail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that theinvention is not so limited but that various changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of theappended claim.

What is claimed is:

A tire chain assembly comprising a pair of side chains each havingopposite ends detachably connected with each other by a fastener carriedby one end of the said chain and detachably engaged with its other endand thus forming a continuous side chain extending entirely about thecircumference of a side portion of a tire when the chain assembly isapplied thereto in position for use, cross chains extending between saidside chains and spaced longitudinally thereof, opposite ends of eachcross chain being connected with links of the side chains, said crosschains being all of the same length and each of such length that itextends across the tread portion of a tire in taut condition when thechain assembly is applied to a tire of predetermined diameter, and pairsof traction chains extending diagonally in spaces between the crosschains, one pair of traction chains having inner ends connected with across chain substantially midway the length thereof and extendingtherefrom in diverging relation to each other towards the side chainsand having outer'ends detachably connected with selected links of thesaid side chains near the next cross chain, said traction chainsconsisting of links larger than the links of 'the cross chains, and saidtraction chains all diverging circumferentially of the tire in the samedirection and being all of such length that when the chain assembly isapplied to a tire the traction chains extend loosely across the treadportion of the tire.

CHARLES J. MANNEY. WILLIAM H. DEVONSHIRE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 801,115 Smith Oct. 3, 1905 1,338,772 Hart May 4, 19201,465,710 Corrington Aug. 21, 1923 1,537,862 Mohr et al. May 12, 19251,714,720 Meyer May 28, 1929 1,905,237 Martel Apr. 25, 1933 2,086,512Reyburn July 6, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 167,006Switzerland Apr. 16, 1934

